MONCTON, New Brunswick – Premier Shawn Graham said Tuesday he can’t rule out putting a nuclear waste disposal site in New Brunswick because of the need to dispose of its own nuclear waste.

“What do you do with the waste New Brunswick is currently storing in our province?” he said. “That’s why we can’t close that door. We have a responsibility to make sure we properly dispose of our waste that we’re currently storing here today.”

Canada’s Nuclear Waste Management Organization is soliciting input from across the country as it seeks a long-term storage facility for used nuclear fuel. The organization, established in 2002 by Ontario Power Generation Inc., Hydro-Quebec and NB Power under the Nuclear Fuel Waste Act, is responsible for the long-term management of Canada’s nuclear waste.

A spokesman for that organization recently said the current cross-country dialogue is designed to develop a fair process for choosing the site of the long-term storage facility. A proposal will eventually be drafted and it could be up to two years before the organization starts to hear from communities interested in hosting such a facility.

“If I stand up and say New Brunswick is not going to be at the table for discussions, then all of a sudden we’re stuck trying to find our own solution here in the province to a much bigger problem,” said Graham.

Nuclear provinces New Brunswick, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan are all being considered for the storage site, as well as any community in another province that expresses interest. The spokesman said the facility will not be imposed on any community that doesn’t want it.

Waste from the Point Lepreau generating station, near Saint John and about 25 miles from the Maine border, is currently stored on-site in a tank similar to an Olympic-size swimming pool. It’s only a third full and provincial Energy Minister Jack Keir recently said there’s enough space to handle waste for the next 30 years.

Graham said that with 19 nuclear sites in Canada, it’s unlikely New Brunswick would be considered the best location for storing nuclear waste.

“There’s a much better chance our material will be moving to another jurisdiction than 19 jurisdictions having their material come here,” he said. “But we have a responsibility to be at the table to discuss how we can properly dispose of this material.”